lawrenceSA
02-11-2013, 06:11 AM
So as some of you know, I am based in a town called Durban in South Africa. I am also heavily involved in the VW Club SA, a nation wide club for VW (well the whole VAG group actually) enthusiasts, and this weekend I had my first opportunity to detail one of guys cars who is based in Johannesburg, some 600km away - he even went as far as hiring another vehicle whilst he was down in my neck of the woods so he could get me to work on his car - quite humbling actually!
This meant that I was only able to start working on the car at around 09:30 on Saturday morning (where I usually make a start around 19:00 on Friday evening). I was therefore quite pressed for time and did not have the opportunity to remove the wheels and give them a thorough detailing as he would have liked. Nonetheless, I managed to pretty much get everything else done.
So the car was dropped off on what turned out to be an extremely hot Saturday morning. At 09:45 it was already a nice sticky 29 degrees celcius with humidity around 95% - you gotta love Durban weather :eek: and I got to work removing the tape he had placed to protect the recently added ED35 front end
http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd393/polo_playa/Detailing%20-%20Marco%2009%20Feb%2013/IMG_3065_zps82000bcb.jpg
Once that had been done I snapped some pics of the condition of the car which, whilst being covered in surface dirt, was in generally good condition.
http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd393/polo_playa/Detailing%20-%20Marco%2009%20Feb%2013/IMG_3076_zps9602b0c8.jpg
http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd393/polo_playa/Detailing%20-%20Marco%2009%20Feb%2013/IMG_3078_zpsc3b7059a.jpg
http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd393/polo_playa/Detailing%20-%20Marco%2009%20Feb%2013/IMG_3077_zpse562e046.jpg
http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd393/polo_playa/Detailing%20-%20Marco%2009%20Feb%2013/IMG_3081_zps3a293574.jpg
http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd393/polo_playa/Detailing%20-%20Marco%2009%20Feb%2013/IMG_3083_zps7ca0cc5a.jpg
http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd393/polo_playa/Detailing%20-%20Marco%2009%20Feb%2013/IMG_3105_zpsc1b4acc0.jpg
http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd393/polo_playa/Detailing%20-%20Marco%2009%20Feb%2013/IMG_3097_zps6c6916d1.jpg
http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd393/polo_playa/Detailing%20-%20Marco%2009%20Feb%2013/IMG_3085_zpsc7ba69ee.jpg
Signs of previous polishing work on the car.... In the end I reckon I lost more than an hour removing a combination of polish/wax from all the little nooks/crannies around the vehicle....
http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd393/polo_playa/Detailing%20-%20Marco%2009%20Feb%2013/IMG_3079_zpsa6284a35.jpg
http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd393/polo_playa/Detailing%20-%20Marco%2009%20Feb%2013/IMG_3089_zps1a8d0205.jpg
http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd393/polo_playa/Detailing%20-%20Marco%2009%20Feb%2013/IMG_3101_zps2829a03f.jpg
So first up, as always, I got cracking on cleaning up the wheels.
Before
http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd393/polo_playa/Detailing%20-%20Marco%2009%20Feb%2013/IMG_3070_zpsc5361539.jpg
http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd393/polo_playa/Detailing%20-%20Marco%2009%20Feb%2013/IMG_3073_zps6622315e.jpg
http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd393/polo_playa/Detailing%20-%20Marco%2009%20Feb%2013/IMG_3074_zpsaaf4a73d.jpg
Tires and arches were scrubbed clean using APC and the wheels were then cleaned using Turtle Wax Intensive wheel cleaner. I then used Autofinesse ObliTARate to remove the tar from the wheels (minimal was present on the faces of the wheels although I am sure the barrels would have had more on them, were I able to remove the wheels and get to them properly), which were then given a light treatment of iron-x (I had a very limited supply left and the owner and I had agreed it would be put to better use on his paintwork) which removed some of the embedded iron particles from the wheels
http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd393/polo_playa/Detailing%20-%20Marco%2009%20Feb%2013/IMG_3112_zpsa755ab38.jpg
http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd393/polo_playa/Detailing%20-%20Marco%2009%20Feb%2013/IMG_3170_zps14751691.jpg
http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd393/polo_playa/Detailing%20-%20Marco%2009%20Feb%2013/IMG_3171_zpsb6153ba4.jpg
http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd393/polo_playa/Detailing%20-%20Marco%2009%20Feb%2013/IMG_3175_zps5a19f1b9.jpg
I then set about cleaning up the engine bay using various brushes and Cyclo CM30 before dressing it with Chemical Guys Bare Bones.
Before
http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd393/polo_playa/Detailing%20-%20Marco%2009%20Feb%2013/IMG_3121_zps9c8d5d5a.jpg
http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd393/polo_playa/Detailing%20-%20Marco%2009%20Feb%2013/IMG_3114_zps6b4415cc.jpg
http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd393/polo_playa/Detailing%20-%20Marco%2009%20Feb%2013/IMG_3115_zps38bdd51e.jpg
http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd393/polo_playa/Detailing%20-%20Marco%2009%20Feb%2013/IMG_3117_zps568c99bd.jpg
After
http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd393/polo_playa/Detailing%20-%20Marco%2009%20Feb%2013/IMG_3425_zps05f96cdc.jpg
!
This meant that I was only able to start working on the car at around 09:30 on Saturday morning (where I usually make a start around 19:00 on Friday evening). I was therefore quite pressed for time and did not have the opportunity to remove the wheels and give them a thorough detailing as he would have liked. Nonetheless, I managed to pretty much get everything else done.
So the car was dropped off on what turned out to be an extremely hot Saturday morning. At 09:45 it was already a nice sticky 29 degrees celcius with humidity around 95% - you gotta love Durban weather :eek: and I got to work removing the tape he had placed to protect the recently added ED35 front end
http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd393/polo_playa/Detailing%20-%20Marco%2009%20Feb%2013/IMG_3065_zps82000bcb.jpg
Once that had been done I snapped some pics of the condition of the car which, whilst being covered in surface dirt, was in generally good condition.
http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd393/polo_playa/Detailing%20-%20Marco%2009%20Feb%2013/IMG_3076_zps9602b0c8.jpg
http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd393/polo_playa/Detailing%20-%20Marco%2009%20Feb%2013/IMG_3078_zpsc3b7059a.jpg
http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd393/polo_playa/Detailing%20-%20Marco%2009%20Feb%2013/IMG_3077_zpse562e046.jpg
http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd393/polo_playa/Detailing%20-%20Marco%2009%20Feb%2013/IMG_3081_zps3a293574.jpg
http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd393/polo_playa/Detailing%20-%20Marco%2009%20Feb%2013/IMG_3083_zps7ca0cc5a.jpg
http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd393/polo_playa/Detailing%20-%20Marco%2009%20Feb%2013/IMG_3105_zpsc1b4acc0.jpg
http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd393/polo_playa/Detailing%20-%20Marco%2009%20Feb%2013/IMG_3097_zps6c6916d1.jpg
http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd393/polo_playa/Detailing%20-%20Marco%2009%20Feb%2013/IMG_3085_zpsc7ba69ee.jpg
Signs of previous polishing work on the car.... In the end I reckon I lost more than an hour removing a combination of polish/wax from all the little nooks/crannies around the vehicle....
http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd393/polo_playa/Detailing%20-%20Marco%2009%20Feb%2013/IMG_3079_zpsa6284a35.jpg
http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd393/polo_playa/Detailing%20-%20Marco%2009%20Feb%2013/IMG_3089_zps1a8d0205.jpg
http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd393/polo_playa/Detailing%20-%20Marco%2009%20Feb%2013/IMG_3101_zps2829a03f.jpg
So first up, as always, I got cracking on cleaning up the wheels.
Before
http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd393/polo_playa/Detailing%20-%20Marco%2009%20Feb%2013/IMG_3070_zpsc5361539.jpg
http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd393/polo_playa/Detailing%20-%20Marco%2009%20Feb%2013/IMG_3073_zps6622315e.jpg
http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd393/polo_playa/Detailing%20-%20Marco%2009%20Feb%2013/IMG_3074_zpsaaf4a73d.jpg
Tires and arches were scrubbed clean using APC and the wheels were then cleaned using Turtle Wax Intensive wheel cleaner. I then used Autofinesse ObliTARate to remove the tar from the wheels (minimal was present on the faces of the wheels although I am sure the barrels would have had more on them, were I able to remove the wheels and get to them properly), which were then given a light treatment of iron-x (I had a very limited supply left and the owner and I had agreed it would be put to better use on his paintwork) which removed some of the embedded iron particles from the wheels
http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd393/polo_playa/Detailing%20-%20Marco%2009%20Feb%2013/IMG_3112_zpsa755ab38.jpg
http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd393/polo_playa/Detailing%20-%20Marco%2009%20Feb%2013/IMG_3170_zps14751691.jpg
http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd393/polo_playa/Detailing%20-%20Marco%2009%20Feb%2013/IMG_3171_zpsb6153ba4.jpg
http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd393/polo_playa/Detailing%20-%20Marco%2009%20Feb%2013/IMG_3175_zps5a19f1b9.jpg
I then set about cleaning up the engine bay using various brushes and Cyclo CM30 before dressing it with Chemical Guys Bare Bones.
Before
http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd393/polo_playa/Detailing%20-%20Marco%2009%20Feb%2013/IMG_3121_zps9c8d5d5a.jpg
http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd393/polo_playa/Detailing%20-%20Marco%2009%20Feb%2013/IMG_3114_zps6b4415cc.jpg
http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd393/polo_playa/Detailing%20-%20Marco%2009%20Feb%2013/IMG_3115_zps38bdd51e.jpg
http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd393/polo_playa/Detailing%20-%20Marco%2009%20Feb%2013/IMG_3117_zps568c99bd.jpg
After
http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd393/polo_playa/Detailing%20-%20Marco%2009%20Feb%2013/IMG_3425_zps05f96cdc.jpg
!